


The Ripple Effect

by joyblue



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Explicit Language, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-25
Updated: 2014-04-25
Packaged: 2018-01-20 17:38:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1519412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joyblue/pseuds/joyblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Robert Baratheon's last act, and the ripple effect it caused.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Ripple Effect

**Author's Note:**

> Standard Disclaimers Apply

Robert Baratheon looked around him. He was surrounded by wealth, but he was a prisoner, brought on by his own pride and stupidity. The man that was once like a brother to him sat in a prison cell, for a crime he did not commit. He could have easily called for the best defense lawyer his money could buy, but he did not.  
  
Ned never even asked for help. He, on the other hand, have asked Ned countless of times to bail him out of messes he made. The one time he could have helped Ned, he did not.

He was stupid enough to blame his best friend years ago for something that Ned could not control, or his fault. He was stupid enough to marry a woman who saw him as a stepping stone for greater power, and stupid enough not to care that everything he worked for was slowly slipping away from him, his business slowly being infiltrated by people loyal to Tywin Lannister.

He truly was a stubborn and a stupid man, but not stupid enough to deny what was happening to him. 

It was Candy, one of his favourites that made him realise what was happening to him. She was good, but between the fucking sessions they had, Robert discovered that there was a sweetness in her that lacked the other whores he played around. It was an innocent comment he made, how he started to feel queasy. His nose was bleeding often. A few days later when he visited her, she showed him pages of paper she printed off the internet. She said she googled his condition, and that it sound like he was being poisoned. He laughed at her then and fucked her senseless after that.

That night, as he started at his trembling hands, he could not help but recall things she said as he took her over the sofa. “Your nails, Robert! That discolouring is a sign…” When he told Cersei over breakfast what he was feeling ill, his wife simply shrugged and told him it was a result of too much wine and whores. He could not go to the family doctor. If he was being poisoned, it would only by people closest to him. He wasn't blind, there was no one loyal to him, not anymore.

The next time he visited Candy, there was an old man with her, he was the doctor, she explained. He was the one she and her friends would go to if they needed help. He could not bring himself to be angry at her, so he sat down, and waited for the doctor to draw out his blood. He sat in silence with Candy as they waited for the results, and when the doctor called to tell him the grave news, he felt empty.

Candy had tears in her eyes, and told him the the doctor was wrong, there must be a way to save himself. Perhaps it was laziness, but Robert knew there was nothing else for him. He had lost his brothers years ago, he turned his back on Ned, and Cersei was a cunning viper, and he was sick of the life he made for himself. But that didn't mean he was going to just give up. He did not have proof that Cersei was behind this, but he had good instincts, instincts he stopped listening to. He was going to haunt Cersei from the grave.

He never fucked Candy from that moment on. He still visited her, but this time, with a different purpose.

No one would question his presence inside the brothel. Cersei, and whoever she was working with never knew about how he changed his will. His share with Baratheon Industries will be divided between his two brothers, Cersei will never be able to buy them out. Stannis and Renly tried to convince him years ago not to marry Cersei Lannister, but he didn’t listen. They would never turn against each other, not for a Lannister.  
  
His wealth is to be divided among the children he fathered. Seven, his investigators told him. The oldest was Mya Stone, a wise girl who worked hard in her studies in Zoology. Gendry Waters, a young man who had just won a scholarship to study Engineering, Edric Storm, a boy he already knew was still trying to find his way. He already made sure to make sizable donations to universities so they can continue with their studies, and ensured the university dormitories will be their homes until they graduated, and a generous allowance to be paid until they finish.

His other children, Bella Rivers was trying to be an actress, so he brought her a small condo in the middle of Dorne, considered to be the home of the entertainment industry in Westeros, and the rest of the world. He also arranged her to be represented by one of the most reputable agencies in the world, to ensure her safety. He may be a bastard, but there were lines he would not cross, but he knew many men who would.  
  
The remaining children were just children, and he ensured they would be able to study by making donations at the right institutions. He had given them modest apartments to live with their family. He wanted to give them everything, but that would just make them targets, he had no doubt Cersei will contest the will and would stop at nothing to take what she thinks belong to her children.

Joffrey could live out on the streets and he would not care. The boy was a monster, always torturing Tommen and his cats. The thought of little Tommen made him pause. Joffrey, Tommen and Myrcella was not his children. He had fathered so many children with other women, but none with the woman who was his wife. It was not difficult finding proof of the affair between Cersei and Jamie. A well placed camera hidden in Cersei’s office gave him the proof he needed.

He was so angry that he was about to send the video to the tabloids when Myrcella and Tommen paid him a visit. The young girl shyly told him she had started to learn to cook, and when she heard he was sick, she made him chicken soup while Tommen helped. He smiled at them, and thanked them both. As much as he wanted to ruin Cersei, he would not be able to do it without hurting the two children. They would not deserve the mockery that the world will throw their way if anyone found out who their true father was.

He had given Myrcella and Tommen a small inheritance. They may not be his own, but thankfully, they did not take after their mother. Joffrey, at that name, Robert snickered. That boy would have nothing. Making sure the boy did not get anything from him will be a blow to Cersei. She expected her Lannister son to be a board member in Baratheon Industries, but it will not happen. Shireen will have his place when she is old enough. Her father and uncle will protect her from Cersei, and this will ensure Baratheon Industries will remain with the Baratheons.

A sizable portion of his wealth will be given to the living Targaryens he knew of. He would not have achieved so much wealth if he didn’t stab Rhaegar in the back, an act he justified after Lyanna left him for the man.

The rest of his wealth will be divided to every single registered charity in Westeros. He wished he could see the look on Cersei’s face when she finds out what he has done. Cersei might fight the will, but he knew Tywin Lannister will discourage her from doing so. The negative publicity that action will bring would make Tywin think twice.

He coughed, and wiped the blood that dribbled from his chin. He made sure Candy would be taken care of. She should be on her way to Valyria, to a little villa he brought for her, where she can run the small café she always dreamed about.

As he coughed more blood, he looked at the file on his computer. He should have acted sooner, and Ned should never have been in prison. No wonder Lyanna left him, she saw him for the selfish prick that he was, and he just hoped that in his final act, he could be a fraction of the man Lyanna wished he was. Pressing the sent button on his email, he made sure that the whole world will know of Ned’s innocence, and the monster that Petyr Baelish is.

The coughing became worse, and his vision started to blur, but Robert Baratheon was not afraid. He was finally going to be free.

-End Chapter-


End file.
